Cancer is an important global issue with increasing incidence and mortality, placing a substantial burden on the healthcare system. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed among men and women in US. It is estimated that in 2018 there will be 319,160 new diagnosis and 160,820 deaths related to cancer of the digestive system including both genders in the United States alone. Considering limited success of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery in treatment of these cancer patients, new therapeutic avenues are under constant investigation. Therapy options have consistently moved away from typical cytotoxic chemotherapy where patients with a given type and stage of the disease were treated similarly, to an individualized approach where a tumor is defined by its specific tissue characteristics /epigenetic profile, protein expression and genetic mutations. This review takes a deeper look at the immune-biological aspects of cancers in the gastrointestinal tract (entire digestive tract extending from esophagus/stomach to rectum, including pancreatico-biliary apparatus) and discusses the different treatment modalities that are available or being developed to target the immune system for better disease outcome.

癌症是一个全球性的重要问题，其发病率和死亡率不断增加，给医疗保健系统带来了沉重负担。结直肠癌是美国男性和女性中诊断出的第三大常见癌症。据估计，仅在美国，到2018年将有319,160例新诊断和160,820例与消化系统癌症相关的死亡，包括男女。考虑到化学疗法，放射疗法和外科手术在治疗这些癌症患者方面取得的成功有限，因此正在不断研究新的治疗途径。治疗选择一直从典型的细胞毒性化学疗法（其中对给定类型和疾病阶段的患者进行相似的治疗）转移到个体化方法，在该方法中，肿瘤由其特定的组织特征/表观遗传特征定义，蛋白表达和遗传突变。这篇综述更深入地研究了胃肠道（从食道/胃到直肠，包括胰胆管装置的整个消化道）中癌症的免疫生物学方面，并讨论了针对目标的各种治疗方式免疫系统可改善疾病的预后。